Both my sons have food allergies. Between the two we are avoiding milk, eggs, peanuts, pistachios, cashews, and sunflower seeds

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Being the Honey

I have been a bitch lately. Lashing out at people before giving them a chance or walking in their shoes. Ever since Max started school this year I have just been in a tizzy of worry, clouding out all rational thought.

I don't know how many people have said to me lately "You'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar." And I know it's true. I was just saying to someone last night that I am going to try to "be the honey."

So today when I got an email from the class parent saying they wanted to celebrate Ms. S's (Max's teacher) birthday and were looking for suggestions for what to serve and that they probably couldn't accommodate food allergies so we with such problems would need to provide something else, I felt the heat rising from the pit of my stomach but thought "be the honey." I replied I would be thrilled to bake something for Ms. S.'s party. Chocolate cake? Oreo cookie cupcakes? Cookies? Muffins? You name it I can do it. I felt better about myself.

The reply I got was "Thanks for the offer. Can I get back to you when I find out about the other kids food allergies too?"

5 comments:

I read your posts and I get the biggest knot in my stomach. My daughter is only 2 and I already stress about school!! Her allergies are not as severe, but the way people act when I warn them makes me sooooo angry. Like we are trying to make them miserable by protecting our children...UGH!!

A mother of an allergic child in private kindergarten recently told me about how she deals with the "party food" situation in her preschool.

She is working with the preschool to have ALL party snacks that is brought into the classroom/school be ordered and delivered by the Lemonade Bakery (www.thelemonadebakery.com) - a bakery dedicated to egg free, peanut free, tree nut free baked goods including cupcakes (they also can accomodate other allergens).

In this way, parents can still design and purchase cupcakes that have that "store bought" look while keeping allergic children safe and most importantly included!

I am a parent trying to figure out a safe birthday treat to take to class for my son's birthday. His class includes a child w/ a nut allergy and another w/ a sesame seed allergy. I'd like to take something that is safe for all the kids to have and have found that while it is fairly easy to find lists of foods that are okay for a nut allergy, it is less clear what is okay for a sesame seed allergy. I do NOT want the kids w/ allergies or their parents to feel what some of you are describing, so I'm fine w/ checking ingredients and with finding something that is safe for everyone. A good friend of mine who has a child w/ a peanut allergy has advised that either Oreos or ice cream sandwiches (my son’s suggestions) are probably okay for the child w/ the nut allergy (with the proviso that the ingredients will need to be double-checked), so that is helpful, but I am not sure if those products are okay for a sesame seed allergy. Any advice re whether a child with a sesame seed allergy may have Oreos or ice cream sandwiches? If not, other suggestions anyone may have would be welcome.